NH jobless rate is only 5.1 percent (unless you count everyone)

Thursday

Nov 1, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By John Nolanjnolan@fosters.com

ROCHESTER — The September unadjusted unemployment rate for New Hampshire was 5.1 percent, according to the latest release of statistics by NH Employment Security. This compares to 5.7 percent in August and 5.0 percent a year ago.

Elsewhere in New England, Rhode Island, with 9.8 percent, came out of double figures for the first time in several years, Connecticut posted a September jobless rate of 8.2 percent, Maine stood at 6.7 percent, Massachusetts was at 6.4 percent and Vermont came in with 4.9 percent.

The average unadjusted jobless rate for the United States in September was 7.6 percent compared to 8.8 percent a year ago.

In the table of states, New Hampshire was ranked ninth lowest, along with Montana, while North Dakota posted the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 2.4 percent, and Nevada still languished at the bottom of the table with 11.2 percent.

Counties, cities and towns

Belknap County, in September, posted an unadjusted jobless rate of 4.8 percent, Carroll County was at 4.6 percent, Rockingham County was at 5.6 percent and Strafford County stood at 5.0 percent.

Last week, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics also released its “alternative measures of labor underutilization,” for the fourth quarter of 2011 through the third quarter of 2012 (which runs up to the end of September). These numbers show that over the past 12 months, New Hampshire had an average official jobless rate of 5.5 percent. This is called the U-3 measurement. However, when so called “discouraged” workers, along with those folks working part-time who would like full-time employment, and “marginally attached” workers are factored in, the rate known as the U-6 measure, estimates New Hampshire had an average jobless rate of 11.1 percent.

The U-6 rate for the United States, over the past 12 months, has been 15.0 percent according to the BLS.